Category: Blog

In 2019 the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the number of people in work in the UK had reached its highest level since 1971, hitting 32.7 million. Not just that, unemployment fell to 1.34 million, the lowest level since 1975.

Despite the rising levels of employment one report this year claimed cash is still king when it comes to attracting employees in the UK.  According to B2B International’s Business & Marketing Survey 2019, which polled managers across Europe, apparently values and cultural fit are not viewed as particularly important during the recruitment process.

Salary and core compensation package were cited by respondents as the number one motivation for employees when considering an organisation. Just over a quarter (28 per cent) believed money mattered, followed by work environment and atmosphere (24 per cent) and location (24 per cent).

However, the UK Internal Staff Survey 2019 from Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) found the top reason employees were happy in their job was down to a “good work environment/culture”.  In this survey employees cited empowerment, team cohesiveness and support as some of the elements that contributed to a good work environment and strong sense of culture.

Interestingly, new research by Capita Employee Benefits found that the vast majority (94%) of business leaders admitted their organisation needed to better use benefits as a strategic tactic to improve employee retention.  

Positive employment figures give hope within the recruitment space, however, contradictory research leaves HR managers and in-house recruiters more confused than ever before about what can and will work to attract, retain and engage talent.

At Tyson Wilson, we’re responding to that confusion by helping our clients not just recruit new employees but drill down where the skill gaps are and help to identify the tactics and strategies that can be implemented in order to maximise staff productivity and reduce turnover.

When it comes to job searching, more often than not, we are influenced by what we have “heard” about an industry rather than what we know.

The call centre industry is one of those industries where people have a number of misconceptions – not necessarily unfounded, it was once a hard sector to work in.

However, in the last decade the thriving world of call centres, especially in the UK and Northern Ireland, means employers have had to up their game significantly.

As a result it can be, for some people, one of the best places they’ve ever worked.

Here’s 4 common misconceptions about working in a call centre:

1. Working in a call centre is all about making calls to people who don’t want what you’re offering

The first thing that you need to know about this very common misconception is that there are actually a wide range of jobs available within call centres. From sales agents to quality assurance, from customer service agents to IT personnel, there are many roles that may appeal to you, and many opportunities that offer job satisfaction. 

Even if you do opt for an outbound sales job, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to be faced with a nightmare of a job! After all, you’re calling people to offer them something that is going to bring added value to their lives. 

Yes, you will encounter some people who will be brusque, if not downright rude, but let’s face it, you’d meet the same people in any sales situation – and even further afield! It’s all a matter of learning how to deal with such situations in a calm and rational manner.

2. Call centres are all based on targets and you’re given little time to meet them

Any sales job – and many customer service jobs for that matter – will involve targets. It’s a matter of understanding your targets and, if you find them unachievable, discussing them with your line manager. 

Most sales targets are based on analysis of performance so, if others are meeting their targets and you’re not meeting yours, it’s a matter of asking for further training or for pointers as to how you might improve your performance.

3. Call centres are boring, unfriendly ‘sweat shops’

This is a very common misconception about call centres, but it’s very wide of the mark. In addition to the fact that they provide a very sociable environment, there’s also a terrific team spirit in many call centres and you’ll find that you’ll be quickly – and warmly – welcomed into the company!

4. Working in a call centre is a road to nowhere

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The number of skills that you can acquire by working in a call centre is endless. 

Ongoing training means that you’ll gain insight into handling customers in a highly-professional manner as well as excellent sales and objection handling techniques. 

Multi-tasking is one of the most highly-developed skills employed in call centres and once you’ve gained experience in working in a call centre, you’ll be armed with a skill set that you’ll be able to take with you into any future career.

It’s easy to think the call centre industry is just a modern factory where people stop off in between “real” jobs. That’ couldn’t be further from the truth.

The thriving sector is full of training and promotional opportunities and can not only be a fantastic stepping stone to your chosen career or a wonderful place to carve your own career with plenty of job types and management roles available.

Here are 6 things you will learn at a call centre, regardless of whether it’s a stop gap or a permanent career:

1. Communication skills

It probably goes without saying, but excellent communication skills are vital for working in a call centre. Even if you think you have good communication skills when you first join a call centre, the ongoing training, not to mention dealing with customers on a daily basis will hone your skills until they’re razor sharp and will enable you to deal with even the most trying of experiences.

2. Improvisation

Call centre training is wide-ranging and extensive. In addition to the ‘script’ that you’ll be given to learn, you’ll also be taught coping skills for when a customer doesn’t follow your script! At times like that, creativity and improvisation will be the name of the game!

3. Keeping calm

When your voice is your only means of communication, it’s vital that you maintain a calm and cordial tone at all times, regardless of the tone and attitude of the person on the other end of the line. 

Always take the time to let the caller explain why they have phoned. This not only shows that you’re interested in their call but, in the event that they’re agitated or angry due to a particular situation, it gives them time to ‘get it all out’ and hopefully calm down.

4. Strong work ethic

Call centre agents, who are successful in their career, share a strong work ethic. By watching those around you, who have done well in the company, you’ll see shared qualities, such as reliability and a commitment to any tasks undertaken.

5. Excellent customer service skills

In a call centre, the customer is king and so, in order to succeed in your career you’ll be taught how to grow customer loyalty and how to develop a customer-focused attitude. 

In general, when someone rings a call centre, it’s because something has potentially gone wrong or the customer perceives that an error has occurred, so it’s vital that you keep a cool head and remain polite; reassuring the customer that they have your undivided attention. 

6. Multi-tasking

When you work in a call centre, you’ll often find that you’re having to multi-task while you’re speaking to a customer. This means that you need to be carrying out tasks such as looking at their file and making notes – all while listening to the customer speaking and responding. Even if you think you’re not great at multi-tasking when you first join a call centre, you’ll soon find that you’ll hone your skills on the job!

Mention the words ‘call centre’ and many people immediately summon up images of rows of people with headsets and telephones, frantically number crunching and being verbally abused by those on the other end of the line. 

Let’s take a look at the reality…..

Expectation: You’ll be working in a highly-pressurised environment

Reality: If your idea of ‘highly-pressurised’ is helping to resolve customers’ problems in a courteous and polite manner, then that’s exactly the type of environment you’ll be working in!

You have to remember that, when people telephone a call centre, they’ve generally experienced a problem in some aspect of their lives and want to put it right. 

On occasion, their frustration may cause them to be less than polite at the beginning of the conversation, but your training and well-developed communication skills will provide you with the ability to resolve the issue to their satisfaction. And how much job satisfaction will that give YOU?

Expectation: Working in a call centre means non-stop phone calls

Reality: Up until about ten years ago, yes, you would have been constantly communicating by telephone. Now, however, you’ll be working between calls, emails, social media, video chats and instant messaging, which will give you a diverse, dynamic and ultimately interesting work environment!

Expectation: Call centres are ‘unhealthy’ places to work

Reality: As with the first point, the old and erroneous image of hundreds of people sitting in a pressurised – not to mention usually windowless – environment has long gone. 

Many service agents are conscious of the fact that their work is quite sedentary and so many ensure that they put time and energy into looking after their health by going to the gym, taking part in sports and enjoying a healthy diet. 

Let’s face it – working in a call centre is really no different to working in an office where you’d spend most of the day at your desk.

Expectation: Call centre work is boring, tedious and monotonous

Reality: Since call centre work is centred around communicating with customers, you get the opportunity to speak to a diverse range of people. How incredibly satisfying is that? On top of the fact that you get to speak to customers, you’re also part of a great team, who take pride and pleasure from each other’s successes. 

In fact, a survey of call centre workers that was carried out a couple of years ago by LloydsPharmacy found that 29% of people who worked in call centres said that they had shared an extra-special connection with a colleague!

In recent years, the hospitality and tourism industry in Northern Ireland has been booming, and trend reports from data giants such as PWC, Deloitte, and the Northern Ireland Tourism Board indicate the future of the industry is buoyant.

In 2018, an estimated 2.6 million people from outside of Northern Ireland visited the region, and over 2 million NI residents took an overnight trip within NI. The economic value of both external and internal tourism last year reached an unprecedented £926m, a figure which is set to grow in 2019.

Overall, this is excellent news for the tourism and hospitality industry in Northern Ireland.

However, during prosperous times such as these we often see an increase in competition within the market, with both new entrants, and key players investing in renovations and expansions.

In June 2018, the 9,000 room barrier was smashed in NI, with hotel expansion being a regular news feature throughout the year. Northern Ireland’s largest hotel with 300 rooms, The Grand Central, opened in Belfast in June, followed by the 178 room Hampton by Hilton. There are now 142 hotels in Northern Ireland, with average occupancy rates of around 75%.

While sector growth and improved performance is of course welcomed, it brings with it its own challenges and growing pains – one such issue we see on a daily basis at Tyson Wilson Recruitment is increased difficulty in attracting and retaining key talent – particularly within an industry that is already experiencing significant skills gaps.

According to a recent survey by recruitment advertising platform, NIJobs.com, the hospitality sector accounts for 1 in 10 of all jobs in Northern Ireland, and represents around 24% of all jobs advertised with the website. In addition, the UK-wide hospitality industry is expected to create approximately 500,000 new jobs over the next five years. This means increased competition industry-wide for suitably qualified and experienced candidates.

With an estimated further sector investment of around £0.5bn underway or expected to be complete by 2020 in Northern Ireland, successful recruitment and retention of employees to enable sustainable growth is a pain point that is only expected to get worse.

The hospitality and tourism sector is heavily reliant on skilled and experienced talent, generalised recruitment practices is not enough. A sector-wide skills shortage can only be addressed through sustained and collaborative efforts between industry and others, such as education establishments and local government – which are in place and underway in the province. However, in the shorter-term, businesses within the sector should be taking steps now to address their human capital issues.

Our clients tell us that building a partnership with an experienced and reliable recruitment consultant can make all the difference to your business, and to your bottom line. In today’s market, Human Resources need to be able to devote a significant amount of time and energy into the retention of personnel and the engagement of current employees. By partnering with a specialist recruitment partner, you are able to free your internal HR resource from the laborious and incredibly time-consuming process of creating job specs, advertising vacancies, short-listing candidates, and even head-hunting for specialist or senior-level talent.

At Tyson Wilson Recruitment, we are experienced in sourcing talent for temporary, permanent, and contract positions, as well as working with businesses from across the hospitality and tourism sector, such as: hotels, restaurants, catering companies, events management, and the public sector.

We are industry experts in recruiting for a wide range of roles within the sector, from Chefs and Housekeepers, to Receptionists, Porters, and Executive positions. We understand that the pace of the industry requires fast response times and quick results, which is why we offer a full service package.

When it comes to adjusting to working from home with children in the house some workers have found it easier than others.

Not just that, having to juggle home-schooling with the many other tasks required can make working from home far more stressful than the daily commute to the office.

Michelle Tyson, founder and director of Tyson Wilson Recruitment, says with more and more of her clients giving employees the ability to continue working from home there’s going to have to be flexibility on both sides.

She added: “Whilst working from home might seem like a great chance to spend time with your children and get those odd jobs done around the house while saving time on the daily commute the reality is much different.

“Many households will be struggling to exist together in smaller, confined spaces. Both parents may require desk and work space as well as the children for their homework and some homes just simply will not have the luxury of space.

“Add to that the stress of being a present parent, home schooling, and the many other distractions that come from being a parent or guardian and it can be a recipe for disaster for some workers.

“The most important thing both employees and employers will need to recognise is that for some people productivity will go up and for others it will go down. This doesn’t mean one employee is better than another, it simply means they have different work environments.”

Michelle says becoming “adaptable and flexible” but “organised and focused” are vital qualities to master in order to successfully achieve a work/life balance during lockdown.

She added: “There are many ideas out there of what will make the perfect home working scenario but it’s not a one size fits all situation. It is absolutely imperative to understand that your children have their own personalities and their own individual needs which only you will know best how to deal with. Your space and logistical scenario may be unique, crowded or non-existent too.

“Taking advice is important but also, so is being flexible to create a situation that works for you and your family and ensuring your employer understands where you will be, when you will be there and how they can get in touch with you.”

Here are Michelle’s 12 top tips for working from home with children:

1. A flexible routine

That sounds odd, but the core of it is that while a routine is vital for you and your children, it will be disrupted simply because they are children… Ideally you can set out break times that reflect your normal working practices that the children can follow too, but just be prepared to change. It might be that you take more breaks and complete the tasks after they go to bed, or if they are teenagers before they get up.

2. Communicate

Your boss needs to know that you are working at home with your tiny terrors. Ask for reasonable deadlines for work, update them when things will be ahead of schedule or slightly behind.

If your workplace has a joint working app or calendar this can help, but nothing beats a quick call, text or email. Try to stay off WhatsApp and their ilk as you will become easily distracted.

3. The 10-second rule

Every parent should know this but is worth reminding ourselves. Your lovely child will, at some point demand attention. Even if you are in the middle of a complex task or with a deadline looming. It is too easy to snap at them. You wouldn’t do that in the office, so don’t do it now. Count inside your head to 10, discuss it, or explain that mummy/daddy will be with them in five minutes or 10 minutes. Ask them to set a timer, set yourself one and hopefully any temptation to shout will be gone.

4. The magic of headphones

They really can be magic. Whether it is a conference call or just listening to some music make sure you explain to your children that when you have your headphones on you are not to be disturbed.

5. Workspace

Whether it’s a bedroom, dining room, or the conservatory you need to have a space that you can set up all the equipment you need, including some extra areas if needed. Try to avoid spaces used by the rest of the family such as the living room or kitchen.

6. Homework/home schooling

Your children may or may not have been given tasks by their school. It is important that you treat it the same way you would if you are making sure they complete their homework by a set time, ready to be checked. If they have questions or are having difficulties, you can take a break to help, but just a short break.

7. Work buddies

There will be other people in your work that are going through the same experience. Keep in touch with them, exchange hints, moan to each other, laugh at the absurdity of home schooling and working at the same time, whatever it takes.

8. Exercise

You will probably be sitting down for most of the day. So will your children. Make sure to get up, stretch, move around. You can’t usually do that in the office, but you’re at home. Make up some fun games with the children, look up some of the online resources for children’s exercise and join in. And, with them get out, walk the dog, jog around the park, just make sure that you all get fresh air and daylight, remembering to keep social distance from anyone also out.

9. Task allocation

At work you may have a routine that the various tasks in every project are allocated, with the timing understood. Can you do the same at home with children? Yes, but only by thinking it through. Can your youngest tidy away their toys in 30 minutes in an exchange for a treat? Can your stroppy teen earn goodwill points towards a gift by washing the dishes? The goodwill points are something all children can understand (smiley faces for younger children) and will eventually see them getting down to eagerly helping out with tasks.

10. Limit screen time

For you, your children and anyone else make sure you have limits on screen time. It will be difficult but worth it.

11. Time off

No weekend, evening or early morning work. If you don’t normally work outside office hours don’t start now.

12. End of day procedure 

You’ve finished your tasks for the day, it’s five-to-five. Make a note of what you have completed and a note of tomorrow’s tasks. Close the laptop, pour yourself a cuppa and spend some time with your children. Perhaps once or twice a week have set activities: a movie night when the entire family agrees what to watch; a board games tournament across several evenings; or, learning something new such as chess or a craft – just as long as it isn’t members of the family learning a musical instrument – that way madness lies.

If you are in the position where you need to take a break from your current position or want to add to your income during these uncertain times Tyson Wilson Recruitment are currently recruiting a number of temporary and permanent roles.

For more information email Michelle at info@tysonwilsonrecruitment.co.uk or go to tysonwilsonrecruitment.co.uk/jobs

Digital transformation has impacted on a wide range of business functions for many years, including the HR function and organisational recruitment strategies and tools. Perhaps ten years ago companies were able to get by with more traditional recruitment methods, but today, some form of digital recruitment integration is usually required.

Michelle Tyson, founder and director of Tyson Wilson Recruitment and Tyson Wilson Temps has been recruiting digitally for a number of years now.

But she is warning companies and recruiters that there’s many things to take into consideration before you can move your operations online.

Michelle said: “When turning some elements, or indeed all, of your recruitment strategy digital, there are a wide range of things to consider, ensuring you build a robust digital recruitment strategy.”

Here are some things Michelle pinpointed:

What is digital recruitment?

Michelle explained: “Digital recruitment isn’t just about posting job vacancies online, though that is part of it. It includes the use of digital technology to assist in the finding, attracting, analysing, selection, and hiring process of candidates.

“Depending on the scale of your organisation’s recruitment needs and the resources available, this could include hosting application forms online, the use of online or digital assessments, holding online interviews using video conferencing software, or even the use of end-to-end recruitment software to manage the whole process.”

Share Relevant Content

Potential candidates are highly likely to search for information about your organisation online.

“You should ensure you have a page on your website dedicated to posting vacancies. In addition, you should consider producing content that will showcase to prospective employees what kind of company you are and why they should want to work there” said Michelle, adding: This content can be shared to blogs and social media, via an email newsletter, and through other partners such as recruitment agencies you use.

Use Social Media

“Social media can be an excellent tool to market your business to current and potential customers” said Michelle.

However, she said it is essential this forms a “key element of any recruitment marketing strategy”.

“In addition to sharing your targeted recruitment content on social media, it can be used to post job vacancies and link to downloadable application forms or bespoke online application processes, with many platforms now having specific jobs posts that are visually distinctive” said Michelle.

Advertise Online

Michelle advised: “Your vacancies should be posted on a range of online platforms such as your company website, social media, and digital job boards. There are a variety of paid and free digital platforms available, so you need to know how to target the type of candidates you’re after and how to keep records of the vacancies you post – remember that all employment legislation still applies, regardless of whether you use traditional or digital recruitment.”

Digital Applications

The first step in going digital is providing a PDF or digital download of an application form that is submitted via email.

“You should still allow for paper-based applications to be submitted, where possible, so you aren’t discriminating against certain age groups or individual skillsets” said Michelle.

“This is particularly important for industry sectors where ICT skills are not a priority and access could be an issue. However, most candidates will welcome an online as opposed to written application process.

“As an alternative to a digital download, you could build a digital application process. These can be bespoke, or through a software package that is specifically for this purpose. Make sure the application process is easy to navigate, that users can save their progress and come back later, and that the system generates a notification to let the candidate know that their application has been received.”

Create A Feedback Loop

Michelle explained: “This simply means asking candidates for feedback on your recruitment process so you can improve it. During, or at the end of, the recruitment process, you could use anonymous online survey software to ask candidates a range of questions about their experience. This needs to be offered to every candidate to ensure the feedback process is continuous and that feedback is as broad as possible.”

Be Consistent

“If your company declares that it is innovative and forward thinking, but still uses a cumbersome paper-based application process and does not acknowledge receipt of applications, the process conflicts with the image your company is trying to portray” said Michelle.

“Reduce cognitive dissonance and increase trust with your candidates by making sure your processes match your brand values.”

For more information email Michelle at info@tysonwilsonrecruitment.co.uk or go to tysonwilsonrecruitment.co.uk

More than a third of Northern Ireland’s workforce occupies key worker jobs, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics this week.

The figures showed the variations across the UK, Northern Ireland sits at seventh across the UK region with 33.5% of the work force recorded as key workers.

Michelle Tyson of Tyson Wilson Recruitment & Tyson Wilson Temps said the figures mirrored their own experience as a recruitment provider in both the temporary and permanent arena. She said the number of clients requesting key worker roles had increased in a short space of time.

“As we continue to work through these troubling times we are getting a better picture of the amount of people working in key roles,” explained Michelle. “It is interesting that here in Northern Ireland over a third of employees have been defined as key workers”

The top essential jobs here are health and social care, with just over 10%, education and childcare (6.4%) and food and necessary goods (5.8%).

“While traditionally Northern Ireland has an over-dependence on public sector jobs we are seeing that people are wanting to join key worker roles outside of that,” said Michelle. “A report from Money.co.uk showed that Google job searches for those roles rose by 67%.

“The searches for delivery deliver posts rose by 475%, postal workers rose by 371% and care worker by 144%.

“Clearly uncertainty in the job market and increasing unemployment has driven these rises, but it shows how adaptable the Northern Ireland workforce is, and the hunger to obtain good, rewarding jobs.”

The analysis by Money.co.uk looked at the searches for jobs, and revealed that overall searches for key worker roles were up by 164%.

“I am sure that a lot of the increases have been driven by the economic uncertainty,” said Michelle. “But we will be coming out of lockdown, hopefully, within a couple of months.

“There are employers who will be looking for people to start right away.

“From warehouse workers, through to administrative and call centre posts there will be a demand that will need to be met quickly.

“Already we have clients who will be recruiting as soon as the government advice is to do so.

“With that in mind my message to everyone looking to get back to work is to be ready to apply, and in the meantime stay safe, stay at home and be careful.”

Remote interviewing is convenient and cost-effective for employers – reducing transportation costs, speeding up the interviewing process, and allowing companies to more easily interview candidates who are not local. As a result, shortlisting candidates by holding online job interviews via video conferencing software has been steadily increasing in popularity.

More and more employers are making use of tools such as Zoom, Skype, or Microsoft Teams, to hold online interviews, with some companies even carrying out the induction process online for successful applicants. This is particularly common with remote working or flexible roles that allow employees to work from home.

There are lots of articles giving advice to applicants on how to ace an online job interview, but far fewer dishing out advice to employers on how to carry them out effectively. Here are seven top tips if you are an employer considering carrying out remote job interviews:

1. Avoid Discrimination

If the role requires that the candidate has strong ICT literacy, holding an online interview may not be much of a concern. However, you should be mindful that not everyone has the same digital skillset, and you could end up unintentionally discriminating against individuals if you do not offer an alternative means of interview, such as a telephone interview. It could also be off-putting to some candidates if they are aware that interviews are only being held online, which could reduce the talent pool you have to choose from.

2. Issue Some Guidance

This should help with the point above. It’s very possible that the candidates you plan to interview will not have had an online job interview before. Why not send a quick one-page guidance document out with the interview confirmation letter or email?

This can include information on what software you will use to host the interview, how long the interview should last, and how many interviewers there will be. You can also include some tips on how the candidate can create an effective interview space at home – such as minimising distractions, using a well-lit location (but not back-lit), using a laptop or desktop device rather than a mobile phone, and even some steps on how they can carry out a trial run to make sure their speakers and microphones are working correctly.

These tips might seem obvious, but job candidates can be nervous and forgetful. This way, you’re giving every opportunity for the interviewee to set themselves up for success.

3. Set the Scene

You should ensure you follow your own advice from above! Make sure the interviewers are in a distraction-free location, that all the technology has been tested to ensure it works correctly prior to the interviews taking place, and that email notifications, mobile phones, and other devices are turned off or on silent.

4. Get Rid of ‘What’s Your Greatest Weakness?’

Interview questions should be well thought out and relevant to the role. Focus on asking questions that are related to behaviours or situations and find alternative ways to get the responses you’re after without asking cliched questions that are outdated. Interviewing based on job-related characteristics is becoming increasingly common, with interviewees being set a practical task or problem to solve. This can be more challenging to asses using online interviewing, so consider how you can adapt these questions and tasks to suit the online environment.

5. Body Language Matters

Remote interviews mean there’s no opportunity to have a handshake, making direct eye contact can be a little more tricky, and you are likely to be less conscious of your body language and posture when not in the same room as the candidate. Speak clearly, use engaging body language, and remember to look at the camera, not at yourself on the screen.

6. Virtual Culture Pitch

When conducting interviews remotely, candidates won’t be able to get a feel for your organisational culture as they won’t be waiting in reception, chatting with colleagues, getting a tour of your premises, or be able to get a general ‘feeling’ about the company. To compensate for this, you could provide a PDF or video company info pack that includes promotional literature, links to company PDFs, and links to the company website and social media pages. In addition, if remote interviewing is a permanent recruitment method for your company, you could commission a series of short videos that show a ‘day in the life’ of a range of employees, or interview employees on camera about their experiences with the company.

7. Follow-up and Ask for Feedback

Just as you would with any in-person interview – follow-up with the candidate. Thank them for their time and ask them for any feedback they may have on the remote interviewing process. Finally, let the candidate know whether they have been successful, and if not, include some feedback for them on how they could improve next time.

For more information or to request a call email info@tysonwilsonrecruitment.co.uk or call 07860636486

We all understand the importance of making a good first impression, but when job-hunting your first opportunity comes before the interview.

Every job vacancy advertised will receive multiple applications and having a great CV helps you stand out from the crowd. 

Here are some tips to ensure your CV gives you an advantage from the start:

1. Make it easy to read

Traditionally, CVs follow a standard format showing personal details, education history, experience and additional skills and achievements which may be relevant to the position you’re applying for and give you an edge over the competition. 

Your potential employer will thank you for keeping it short and to the point. Aim for two pages in length, in a font and size that’s easy to read and ensure you proofread the finished document. 

2. Make it personal

Directly under your personal details, summarise your key skills and achievements which are relevant for the position you’re applying for and give an overview of who you are and what you can offer the company. 

This personal statement should be reworked for every position you apply for to ensure you’re tailoring the content to make it relatable to the specific job vacancy.

3. Make the language work for you

Keep the tone of your writing confident and use positive language. Your CV is essentially a sales pitch so use language which sells your abilities and achievements to your potential employer. Think about how your experience can benefit the company and highlight what makes you the best person for the role.  

4. Make the most of your experience and achievements

For each of your previous positions, give the dates you worked there, the role and company and bullet point your responsibilities and achievements.

While highlighting experience in similar responsibilities is useful, it is more effective to document what you achieved in that role using numbers where possible, such as ‘expanding the customer base by 25% in the first year’, ‘increasing sales by 20% in your first quarter’, ‘successfully achieving funding in excess of £100k’.  

5. Leave it out

In some countries, a headshot is included in the CV but unless how you look is a key feature in the role then don’t include it.

Giving your age or date of birth was once commonplace on a CV, as was including marital status and number of dependants, however as none of these details are relevant to your ability to do the job leave them off your CV. It’s worth noting that it is illegal for a potential employer to ask for this information under the Equality Act 2010. 

Getting your CV in good shape increases your chances of being called for an interview, so follow these tips to make sure you’re making the most of your skill set and secure that new role today.

If you want assistance on writing your CV or would like to talk to someone about what you should put in it contact Michelle at info@tysonwilsonrecruitment.co.ukor go to tysonwilsonrecruitment.co.uk/jobs